Assassin's and Dragons don't mix
by Nyce
Summary: Arno Dorian finds himself in a strange land, and on a strange quest by means unknown to him. Old women turning into Dragons, people with magic, and Darkspawn creatures? If only he could remember what had happened to him before arriving in that castle... Name is a WIP.
1. Chapter 1

Hey! Welcome to my new fanfic. I apologize if you find any mistakes or Typos. Most of it was written on my phone, and only quickly checked through on my computer. But this is just for fun so, :)

Dragon Age and Assassin's Creed does not belong to me.

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Arno awoke with a gasp of air, his eyes wide and his heard beating heavily. There were shouts around him but he couldn't tell what direction they were coming from – all he could focus on was the pain. After a moment, he felt a hand on his shoulder, and he felt himself being pushed back down, flat on the bed.

He was aware of someone pouring a liquid down his throat that tasted horrible, but he managed to swallow most of it. It the following minutes, the pain lessened and he could actually think, and focus on what was around him. He was in a room, with an elderly man and a woman. They were both looking at him with a level of concern, and the man had a half-full bottle in his hands.

Arno just stared at them, but he quickly opened his senses up to look at them with his Eagle Vision. They both flared blue before a flare of pain cut through his head, making him shut his eyes, and pressing on his head with his hand, "Merde!" he hissed.

Arno felt a hand on his shoulder, and he opened his eyes up to see the man holding the bottle out to him. Arno blinked, but he slowly took it and took a sip of it. He made a face, but it seemed to dampen the pain in his head so he took another drink, a bigger one. After a moment, he looked up at the two people.

"Better?" The elderly man said to him, and Arno was mildly surprised to hear the man speaking in English.

"Yes." Arno replied, also in English, looking between the two with a deep frown on his face, "Who are you? What is this place?"

"You are in the healing hall in Castle Cousland of Highever. I am Aldous and this this Mother Mallol." he spoke, motioning to the woman, "What might your name be?"

Arno shut his eyes, trying his best to ignore the dulled thumping in his head, "Arno Dorian." he replied. He opened his eyes up around and looked between them, the mans words running through his head. Castle Cousland? Highever? Those names meant nothing to him.

"Can you tell us what happened to you?" Aldous asked, making Arno looked at him with a furrowed brow.

"What do you mean?" Arno asked slowly.

"You were on the floor of the Chantry, unconscious and bleeding." Mallol said, her voice soft, "You were gravely injured – you nearly died."

Arno stared at her, "I – what? I do not know – I can't remember." he rubbed his forehead again, and then took another sip of the liquid.

"What's the last thing you do remember?" Aldous asked, tilting his head with a frown.

"I – I am not sure." Arno admitted after a moment, "I think – I was visiting a friend. After that – I cannot say."

"A friend?" Aldous repeated, "Back in Orlais?"

Arno blinked again. Orlais? He stared at them with confusion, making Mallol – the mother – place a hand on Aldous's shoulder, "He is tired and confused. We should leave him rest."

It was in that moment Arno realised that he was not wearing his robes, nor did he have any of his weapons. Not even his hidden blade. He was wearing a pair of dark trousers and a white shirt. But before he could ask either of the strangers about it, they started to leave.

"Get some rest, younger Arno." Aldous said, and shut the door behind him. Arno looked at the door, but he could feel the weariness in his body and as much as it pained him to admit it, he wouldn't be able to sneak around. Actually, there was a good chance that he might not even be able to make it to the door.

So he laid his head back and shut his eyes.

He woke up later, and the room was in total darkness. He sat up, and had a quick look around. He couldn't see much, at all, so he used his Eagle Vision.

Thankfully it didn't feel like a sword going through his head, and he could see the door. He quietly slipped out of the bed, feeling the cold stone on his feet. He quietly walked over to the door, and turned the latch on it.

The hallway was brighter than the room, and it made Arnos eyes hurt a bit as he dropped his Eagle Vision back to his normal sight. Not far down the hall was a room, and peering in, Arno recognised the woman from before.

"Mother Mallol?" Arno spoke up, making the woman turn around, and looked at him with surprise.

"Arno. I am surprised to see you up." she greeted with a smile, walking up to him. She reached him and then looked around the room.

To Arno, it looked to be a church. But he recognised none of the symbols.

"This is where we found you." she said, motioning to a spot on the ground.

Arno looked at it, and tilted his head with a frown. Nothing seemed familiar to him around this room. But this was a Chantry? Where was he?

Arno looked down at his plain clothes, "Did I have anything on me?" he asked, after a moment.

The Mother nodded her head, "Blue robes, a gold sword and..." she trailed off, "A wrist blade?"

"Close. Hidden Blade." he corrected, with a smile.

Mallol frowned, "I had never seen such a weapon before. Are they... common in Orlais?"

Orlais again. Arno rubbed his head, why the assumption he was from this 'Orlais' place, he dis not know. But perhaps it would not be wise to oppose that idea?

"Not exactly." Arno replied, shaking his head, "They are quite rare."

Mallol nodded her head, and turned around to a door leading off to the side of the podium, "Your robes are in here. I'm afraid I don't have your weapons, I don't like keeping weapons in the sanctuary of the Chantry." she explained as Arno followed her.

"I understand." the French-man said, pausing as the woman handed him his folded robes that were clean of blood. Did they clean and repair them for him? Why?

"Where would my weapons be?"

"Aldous has them. I can take you to him." the mother kindly spoke.

Mallol left Arno alone in the side room for a few minutes as he put his robes on. He smiled slightly. She looked at him as he exited into the main Chantry.

"Before we proceed, I need to ask you something." she started, "In the Chantry, under the gaze of the Maker, you must tell the truth. Are you an assassin?"

Arno looked at her, blinking. "No." he answered after a moment, and shook his head.

He had a feeling she meant an assassin who killed people for money - which he certainly was not - and not an Assassin of the brotherhood. But either way, the answer was, sadly, the same.

Mallol inspected his face, and after a moment, nodded, "I believe you. Let's go." and she started walking out of the chantry.

Arno followed behind The Mother led Arno through the hallways until they came upon a library. She smiled at him, and then called out for Aldous. The elderly man walked out from a backroom, and smiled kindly at Arno and Mallol.

"Well, it is good to see you up and about!" Aldous smiled, and Arno saw that the man was holding his cuff with the hidden blade in it as he walked up to them, "I assume you are after this?"

Arno smiled, taking it as it was offered, "Yes. Merci." he said, connecting it to his wrist and lowering it.

Aldous watched his wrist as he moved it, "An interesting device. How does it work?"

"Trade secret, I am afraid." Arno chuckled, "Where is my sword?"

Aldous paused, "Ah, well the Teryn saw it and asked if he could look at it for a bit. It's a very... Unique weapon. How did you find it?"

Arno paused, unsure who or what the Teryn was. He would just go ask fir it, he supposed. "I found it." Arno said, shrugging. Not really a lie. He found it next to the dead body of the mad man Germain. "Would I be able to get it back?"

"Of course, but in the morning perhaps? It is late."

Then the door opened. Arno turned around, hand teaming and ready to spring his blade out - a habit formed from getting surprised - and saw two armoured men.

"Can I help you?" Aldous asked them, moving past Arno, "You are some of Arl Howe's men, correct?"

Arno watched them closely, and saw them inch towards their weapons. The former assassin opened his Eagle Vision. The two men were a bright, startling Red.

In one second an arrow was fired, and in the same second Arno had pushed Aldous away. The old man let out a cry of surprise as the arrow flew over his head and landed in the spine of a book.

Arno didn't waste time, and using the time the archer needed to get another arrow, he knocked a table onto its side and pushed the librarian and the mother behind it.

"Stay down!" he ordered.

His focus was back on the two attackers. The Archer had reloaded, and was aiming at Arno. The French-man ran at him, ducking the bow and spinning around to slice the man's throat. The arrow flew out and it a statue.

The second man had a sword and had an expression of surprise and anger on his face. He swung at Arno, which he dodged. The man swung again, and Arno dropped, rolling around to the side of the warrior and punching the man in the back of the knee. As the man dropped down, Arno drove his hidden blade through the back of his neck.

The man dropped to the ground, dead. Aldous and Mallol poked their heads up over the table and looked at Arno with large and shaken gazes.

"Those - those were Arl Howe's men!" Mallol nearly exclaimed, panic rising in her voice, "Why are they attacking?!"

"Who is this Arl Howe?" Arno asked, wiping the blood from his blade on one of the dead soldiers clothes.

"Arl Rendon Howe of Amerantine. He is close friend of the Couslands! He's been trying to set his son and Evie up for years. I don't - I don't understand!" Mallol exclaimed.

Arno reached down and picked up the dead soldiers sword. He looked between Aldous and Mallol, "Do either of you know how to use a bow?" he asked.

Aldous stepped forward, plucking the weapon from next to the dead man and taking the quiver of arrows.

"We need to find Teryn Cousland. He'll know what's going on." Aldous said, placing the quiver over his shoulder and onto his back.

Arno gave a nod of his head, then moved to the door. He peeked out, and used his Eagle Vision. There was no one in the hallway, but he could see the red shine of many hundreds of soldiers all through the castle - and many blue lights dying away.

"The coast is clear - for now." Arno said, stepping out into the hallway as the other two followed. He looked to Aldous, "Lead us to the Teryn."


	2. Chapter 2

**Thanks for your reviews Reploid Avenger and RedViking96.**

 **Ignore any typos or errors please. Most of this was written on my phone for fun and only lightly edited.**

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They encountered many more of the attacking soldiers. Arno killed most of the ones that attacked, though Aldous took out several with the bow.

Arno was using the sword from the dead man, plunging it through the chest piece of one soldiers armour. The man fell to the ground with nary a sound.

"You are quite a fighter." Aldous stated.

Arno gave a wry smile, "I've had a lot of practise. What of you? How does a librarian learn to shoot a bow?"

Aldous shrugged, "I was not always a scholar." he answered simply.

Just then the sounds of fighting reached them. The three sharing a glance, they rushed to the door that the noises were coming from. Arno pushed it open, the sword ready in his hand.

Only to see an older woman felling a soldier, and a young woman decapitating one of the Arls soldiers with two daggers and a large dog beside her. The man - and his head - fell to the ground.

"Eleanor! Evie!" Mallol exclaimed, rushing up to them, relief in her voice, "Oh thank the Maker!"

"Mallol." The older woman, Eleanor, exclaimed, "What's going on? Howe's men attacking?"

The Mother shook her head, "I don't know." she admitted, "But they nearly killed Aldous and I. Were it not for this young lad." Mallol shuddered.

Evie, the younger one Arno gathered, eyed Arno, "You're the one that they found bloody in the Chantry?" she asked, and at Arnos quick nod Evie crossed her arms, "Well, I'll thank you for saving Mallol and Aldous once we kill Howe."

Arno eyed her for a moment, before glancing behind him with Eagle Vision, "There are more soldiers coming. Am I to assume you have a plan?"

"We have to get to the gates and find Bryce." Eleanor said, placing the mace that she held onto the ground and picked up a dagger from the decapitated soldier.

"I suggest we do so."

The group of five, six counting the dog, traveled the halls of the castle, encountering many soldiers. Aldous maonly stayed at the sidelines, shooting any of Howe's soldiers that went unnoticed by the group.

Arno was quick, never getting a hit on him. One moment he was parrying an attack and the next second he had slit the throat of a soldier sneaking up behind him. At one point there was a warrior coming up behind Eleanor, which Arno shot with a mini-bolt from his crossbow on his hidden blade.

After that battle Arno took the bloodied blade from the stone floor, wiped it, and put if back in his crossbow.

Not much later they came to the main gates. Several soldiers were in there, but Arno was happy to see that they were these Couslands soldiers. However, there were not nearly as many as there should be.

"My ladies!" the apparent commander exclaimed at sight of the two woman, "You survive - I was afraid Howe's men got through."

"They did get through, Gilmore." Evie said, looking away.

"They killed Oren and Orenia." Eleanor said, grief and anger both very clear in her voice.

Mallol and Aldous both let out cries of a horror and shock.

Gilmore deflated at that, "As soon as we realised what was happening, it was all we could do to bar the gates."

Erie took in a deep breath, and Arno could practically see her pushing her grief away and leaving only her anger. "Ser Gilmore. Have you seen my Father?"

Gilmore nodded his head, "Yes. He was heading to the servants exit, in the larder. He said you would meet him there."

"We should go." Evie said, looking around at the room, and her eyes landing on the soldiers stopping Howe's men from breaking through the gates.

"I'll stay here and buy you as much time as I can." Gilmore said, making Evie's eyes widen further.

"You'll die." she stated, a note of helplessness in her voice.

"It's my duty. Now, go - please." he said, and with one last look, Evie complied with his wishes.

Arno followed behind Evie and the rest of the group, pulling up at the rear with the dog. They encountered a few more of Howe's soldiers but not as many as were outside those gates.

Eleanor opened the door to the larder, and her and Evie went in first. The older woman let out a strangled cry as her eyes landed on something in the far corner of the room.

When Arno saw him, he knew it wasn't good. The man, who Arno was assuming was Bryce Cousland, was bleeding quite badly, much if his blood on the stone floor. His skin was sunken and pale, and it seemed like he could barely hold himself up.

"Bryce!" Eleanor dived down next to him, holding his upper half up and placed his head on her lap.

"There you are. I - I was worried you weren't going to - make it." he gasped.

"Oh, love, what's going on? You're bleeding!" Eleanor cried, caressing his head.

"Howe - got me pretty good." "We need to get you out of here." Evie said, kneeling down next to her father and mother.

"I'm afraid, pup, I won't survive the stand." Bryce replied, wincing in pain.

Arno was inclined to agree with the man. He could see Evie shaking with emotion. Eleanor wasn't much different. Mallol and Aldous were both pale as anything, and eyes wide.

"Don't say that! You'll be fine." Erie cried.

"Oh, my daughter," the man had to pause and Arno could see the pain shiver his body, "Only if willing made it so."

"Don't talk like that, Bryce! They'll be breaking through the gates any moment, and find us! The servants exit is right there! We'll find you some healing magic." Eleanor said, tears freely streaming down her face.

"I'm done for." Bryce said, his eyes flickering past his wife and daughter to land on Arno, Mallol and Aldous, "Aldous - Mallol. You live."

Aldous nodded his head, "Yes, your lordship - though if it were not for Arno here we wouldn't be."

Bryce looked at Arno for a moment, but returned his gaze to his daughter and wife, "Listen to me. You - you need to find Fergus. Tell him - oh, Maker - tell him what has happened here."

Arno glanced to the door behind him, which was firmly shut. He looked back to the family and was surprised to see the Teryns eyes on him, "Arno." he coughed, "You are a - stranger to these lands... and hold me no obligation - you have saved the Mother and Brother - I ask that you get my Wife and Daughter away from here."

Arno was startled by the intense gaze in his eyes, but the ex-assassin didn't need long to think about it. "Of course."

"Bryce - are you sure about this?" Eleanor asked, her voice quiet and at his nod, Eleanor shut her eyes, "Then I will stay with you."

"Eleanor, no." Bryce weakly said. "Mother!" Evie's voice cracked.

"Be quiet, my sweets." Eleanor said softly, "Evie, it is your duty to make sure the Cousland line goes on, and find your brother. Mine is to stay with my husband, for life and beyond."

"Eleanor..." Bryce trailed off, but slumped slightly as he didn't finish his sentence.

"I'll kill every bastard that steps through that door." Eleanor declared, anger sparking in her eyes.

"Mother." Evie pleaded.

The sounds of wood splintering, and the shouts of soldiers reached the room. The clang of metal on metal made Arno tense, "The gates have been breached." he spoke up, "They'll find us soon."

"We have to do something! We can fight!"

"And all die? No, Evie, you must get out of here. Find your brother and bring vengeance onto Howe." Eleanor said, looking up at Evie.

Shouts outside the larder grew louder, and he could hear running. Arno grabbed the young woman by the shoulder, and pushed her towards the hatch in the ground that Aldous and Mallol and opened, and the large dog stood next to it.

They climbed down into it, and Arno closed it, just as the shouts got louder. He heard Eleanor's shouts of anger and more sounds of sword play as he ushered Evie, her dog, Aldous and Mallol down the passage.


End file.
